Ever-expanding SunOpta buys Purity Life
network in Canada through the acquisition of natural products
supplier Purity Life Health Products, enhancing control over the
pipeline of its products and its vertical integration.
Both companies are based in the province of Ontario and SunOpta has distributed Purity Life products in Western Canada in the past. SunOpta says the move is consistent with its strategy to expand the breadth of complimentary products and services.
SunOpta's diversification model of business appears to be paying off, as this acquisition is only the latest in a series of developments for the food conglomerate as it increases supply of ingredients such as acai, as well as oat and soy fiber products.
"The addition of Purity is consistent with our stated objectives to broaden the range of products that we can offer our customers across Canada…," said SunOpta chairman and CEO Jeremy Kendall.
According to SunOpta, Purity Life's revenue in the current year will be approximately $50mn. The company employs 155 people and operates warehousing and distribution operations across Canada. The company distributes well over 100 brands of natural products.
Among SunOpta's recent announcements were plans to expand plant capacity by approximately 20 percent at its US oat and soy fiber production plants to meet demand for these fortifying ingredients.
The company also expects its North American acai sales to quadruple to approximately $4mn over the next 12 months and added a new Brazilian supplier of the superfruit to its roster.
SunOpta has three business units. The SunOpta Food Group sources, processes and distributes natural products. The Opta Minerals Group recycles environmentally friendly industrial materials and the SunOpta BioProcess Group engineers and markets proprietary steam explosion technology systems for the pulp, bio-fuel and food processing industries.
